A New Naruto
by akatsukicolin
Summary: Jiraiya finds out about the beating Naruto is getting and decides it is time he takes Naruto away to train him.
1. Chapter 1

Sarutobi Hiruzen, better known as the Third Hokage of the Hidden Leaf village, sighed in despair and pinched his brow. He was aware of the hatred the villagers had for Naruto, but never thought that they would go so far as to bribe medics in the hospital to poison him instead of giving him treatment. It was only due to the intervention of a certain white-haired pervert that Naruto was still alive.

After Naruto was left lying on the ground, having been beaten up for protecting Hinata, a group of drunken men had stumbled upon him and beaten him to within an inch of his life, delivering injuries to him which would have killed any normal person. "_It's the first time he's had you to thank for anything,_" Hiruzen thought, directing these notions at the Nine-Tailed Fox which had attacked the village.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Wearily, Hiruzen told them to come in, and Jiraiya entered.

"Sensei, I can't believe you are going to let those men go unpunished, and why aren't you taking any action after those medics either?" Jiraiya exclaimed thunderously.

"The council are defending them too well, claiming that the medics simply mixed up the bottles and that the men who beat him up were not in control of their actions, so I can do nothing."

"Nothing! What if I got drunk and went to beat up all those involved in this! Would you be able to take action against me?"

"Well, yes, but-"

"But nothing! This kind of crap is the exact reason I left the village. You're the God of Shinobi for crying out loud, how can you let the council do this!" Hiruzen turned his head away in shame. He knew it was true, but he was getting old and could not deal with Danzo and fight against the council at the same time. "Fine then, if you won't do anything, then I will. As Naruto's godfather, I am invoking the law which will allow me to take him away with me and train him, so that he won't be beaten up by thugs." Now it was Hiruzens turn to become enraged.

"Jiraiya I will not allow such an act!" He stood up and slammed him hands onto the desk, splintering the wood. "Naruto is a citizen of the Hidden Leaf village, and I will-"

"A citizen? Pfft. I would hardly call him a citizen after all that this village has put him through. He deserves better! His parents were two of the finest shinobi I knew, and it tears my heart apart that you can't even protect from civilians! End of discussion!" The Third Hokage sat down weakly and waved a hand.

"Go," he said, before flickering away out of the office. Jiraiya sighed and headed out to the hospital.

Naruto lay on his bed in the ward, only barely awake after being beaten up the day before. He looked around and saw a man sitting next to his bed; head slumped forward in his chair. The man glanced up and saw Naruto sitting there, looking confused. "Ah, Naruto, you're awake!" he said, reaching out to ruffle the boy's hair. Naruto flinched away from him, causing Jiraiya to look concerned. "Don't worry lad! I'm your godfather!"

"My godfather?" now Naruto looked confused. Then he brightened up. "Hold on, doesn't that mean you knew my parents?" Now he was excited. "Ooh tell me about them! Were they cool? Were they awesome shinobi? Could they defeat all of the enemy ninja with a wa-ta! Hi-yah!" Naruto made chopping motions with his hands, making nurse come in and scold Jiraiya for over-exciting him. Naruto went to talk again, but Jiraiya shushed him.

"Now now Naruto, don't get too excited. I'm not allowed to tell you about your parents," Naruto looked down, crestfallen. "However," he continued "that law only applies in the village."

"You're, you're taking me away?" said Naruto

"Exactly!" replied Jiraiya "I'll take you away and train you so that you can get stronger than everyone else in your class."

"Even that jerk Sasuke!"

"Even him. Now go home and get packed, we're leaving tomorrow! I've already spoken to the Hokage about it, so make any goodbyes you need to."

Naruto gulped down a seventeenth bowl of ramen as Teuchi and Ayame wept with the prospect of their favourite customer being gone for four years. "Don't worry about it guys, I'll be back before you know, believe it!" Naruto got up and left to meet Jiraiya at the gate.

"Uchiha Sasuke," called out Iruka

"Hn,"

"And Yamanaka Ino,"

"Here!" she called enthusiastically.

"S-s-sensei," said Hinata meekly, "Isn't N-n-naruto-kun coming in?"

Iruka sighed. "He isn't coming anymore, Hinata. He has left."

"Left?!" she squealed "What do you mean! Will he never come back!" she said, not noticed her stammer had gone.

"Yes, he has gone away with an esteemed shinobi and will return when it is time to graduate. He isn't of any importance anyway."


	2. Chapter 2: A new jutsu

**I don't own Naruto, but I do own any new techniques I may create**

"So Jiraiya, why were you in Konaha anyway?" asked Naruto

"First off kid, you call me either kyoufu or Jiraiya-Sensei whilst we are travelling and I am training you. Secondly, I had received word that you were about to start at the academy, so I wanted to come check on you to make sure you were alright. Obviously my suspicions were correct," Jiraiya said "And also kid, whilst we're travelling, I need to get you some new clothes when we get to the next town. That jumpsuit looks ridiculous."

Naruto frowned momentarily, then grinned "Hey, I don't mind! I never really liked these clothes anyway; they were all the shopkeepers would sell me so I had to buy them." They continued walking, Jiraiya telling Naruto stories of the Yondaime as they walked.

"…And then the Yondaime flashed all the way across the battlefield to help his comrades, and even before his enemy knew he had gone, he flashed back behind him and killed him!" Jiraiya spoke, making exaggerated hand motions as he spoke.

"Wow!" exclaimed Naruto "The Hiraishin was the Yondaimes signature jutsu, right? Do you think I could ever learn it? With that jutsu, I'll be stronger that Jiji for sure, and be the best Hokage ever!" Jiraiya smirked.

"I'm sure you could kid, but to do that, you'll have to be even better than me. Even I haven't managed to figure out your fath-, I mean the Yondaimes jutsu. So you'll have to master all _my _jutsu before you can even think about learning that."

"Really! Let's start then! Teach me a cool jutsu!"

Jiraiya tutted. "Whatever happened to doing things in order? First off you need to be able to control chakra, and to do that, I want you to first channel a little chakra into this paper." Naruto took the chakra-sensitive paper and complied, splitting it in two. Jiraiya looked mildly surprised. "Wind element? That's surprising. Okay, first I want you to try and split this leaf in half with your chakra."

Naruto took the leaf, and channelled his chakra into it, pushing too much in and causing the leaf to fly apart. Jiraiya face-faulted, then picked up a new leaf "Try putting _less _chakra into it, instead of just pushing as much in as you can." Naruto strained, and the leaf still exploded, but after a few seconds, and only after a small cut had appeared in it. Jiraiya sighed. This was going to take a loooong time.

They set up camp in a clearing, a small fire and a fly sheet the only thing they had with them. "I'm hungreyyyyy," Naruto whined, poking at the fire with a ling stick "Teach me a fire jutsu." Jiriaya thought about that for a moment, then…

"Fine. I'll teach you _one_ jutsu, only one. But it isn't a fire one" He ran through a set of handsigns and called out "Wind-Style! Great Breakthrough!" Wind was expelled in all directions, and the fire was put out, only to be quickly re-lit with a quick fireball. "I'll teach you another jutsu when you use that jutsu _and_ not explode the leaf every time you touch it. I will teach you another control exercise. Take this leaf, and stick it to your body with chakra." Naruto however, was already running through the hand signs for Great Breakthrough, and shouted the jutsu name. A weak wind pushed away from him in all directions, stirring up leaves.

"Awww! How was yours so powerful Sensei?"

"You have to focus it into a specific area, and push more chakra into it. It'll help if you complete the exercises first th-"

"Great Breakthrough!" Naruto pushed an enormous amount of chakra into it, but the jutsu was still too spread out and did nothing.

"Naruto!" Jiraiya shouted "Do the chakra exercises before you do that jutsu! I won't teach you anymore jutsu otherwise!" Naruto frowned and held a leaf to his arm, only for it to be pushed away. "To do that jutsu properly, you'll need to be able to cut the leaf and stick it to you as well. Naruto sighed and continued as Jiraiya fell to sleep.

The next morning, Jiraiya woke up to find Naruto surrounded in broken leaves, sleeping on the ground. Jiraiya sighed and picked him up, walking towards the Suna, where he was to meet an informant with information about Orochimaru. As he picked him up, he noticed chakra burns on his hands steaming and sealing over visibly. "It would be expected. With both the Kyuubi's chakra and his own healing factor, he would heal quickly. That would explain how his injuries healed so quickly. I wonder what the limits of his abilities are?" he thought out loud.

"With the what sealed in me?" Naruto questioned "I thought the Yondaime killed the fox eight years ago?"

"Crap," Jiraiya thought. "Okay, Naruto, I was going to wait until you were older and more responsible to tell you this, but inside you, you have to legendary Nine-Tailed Fox. Your fath- the Yondiame sealed in it you when you were born as you were the only child born on the day."

"S-s-s-so, I'm… I'm a monster?" Naruto said, tears dripping out of the corners of his large eyes. "Is that why everyone hated me? I killed all those people?"

Jiraiya gripped his arm tight. "No Naruto, you are not the fox. You are its' prison. It's like a weapon being stored in a scroll, you can speak to it if you want, but it can't do anything to you unless you let it."

Naruto stopped crying, and looked up at him, "So, you don't hate me like everyone else?" he whispered.

"No, Naruto. I love as if you were my own son. As your Godfather, I am truly sorry that you had to live that long thinking you were alone and hated. But your mother and father loved you dearly, I know."

"You knew who they were? Can you tell me?"

Jiraiya shook his head. "No, I can't. But I can tell you and teach you your mother two secret jutsus; how to use shadow clones and chakra chains. They were your mothers best weapons, and I am sure she has passed them down to you."

**I will be doing a time skip in a few chapters, up to his graduation age. Until that time, he will be travelling around with Jiraiya and learning new skills. Thanks for the constructive criticism ****CressidaRene****.**


	3. Chapter 3: The One-Tail

"Sensei!"

"What?"

"It's hot. I'm thirsty. Can I have some water?"

"No. You have _ridiculous _amounts of chakra. Try to use the water jutsu I told you," Jiraiya said as they trudged through the city towards Suna. As part of his training, Jiraiya had decided to teach Naruto a jutsu for each element, as well as clones. They were, Wind-Style: Great Breakthrough, Water-Style: Water Jet, Fire-Style: Fireball Jutsu, Earth-Style: Leeching Mud and Lightning-Style: Electro Spark. He could so far handle the wind and find style quite easily, but was having trouble shaping his chakra to form different elements.

"Water-Style: Water Jet!" Naruto called out, and a thin stream of water dribbled out of his mouth, which he recaptured and drank. "How long until we get there?" Naruto said.

"Soon," Jiraiya replied. Honestly, all that kid did was ask for jutsu, talk, and talk about his jutsu. Or about his parents.

"Tell me more about my mum!" Naruto shouted excitedly, "You've barely told me anything about her!"

"Hmm," said Jiraiya thoughtfully. "Ok kid, I'll tell you a bit about her. She had fierce red hair, and had a huge temper."

"Oooh, red hair. I wish I had inherited that from her. I'd look so cool with long red hair." Naruto said

"Anyway, she was the host of the Nine-Tails, just like you. When she found out she was pregnant with you, she was so happy, even though so wasn't allowed to tell anyone."

"Why couldn't she tell anyone?" asked Naruto

"Because the fox's' seal weakens during pregnancy, and people could take advantage of that fact. The seal weakened enough so that the fox escaped, and the Fourth himself had to seal it away."

"So the Yondaime put the fox in me? Cool!"

"Your mother, despite her large chakra reserves, preferred to use taijutsu or kenjutsu instead of ninjutsu."

"What's kenjutsu?"

"Sword-Fighting. She used a special Uzumaki sword whi-" Oh crap, he thought as Narutos' eyes widened.

"Pleeeeease teach me how to use a sword!"

"Only if you can master all the jutsu I have told you. Get your papers out, we're near the village."

Naruto complied and Jiraiya took them out of his hand. The guards standing at the gate milled around the post, bored out of their minds at the job. Then one of them did a double take, seeing one of the legendary three shinobi approaching the gate. "U-u-m. Purpose of visit?" one of them stuttered.

"Simply passing through and I wanted to pick up some supplies. I'll be here for a couple of days at most." Jiraiya grinned and pushed Naruto forward "He'll be travelling with me as well." The guards looked over the papers, and once they had been assured that they were official, handed them back and allowed them in.

"Now Naruto, here's 5,000 ryo. Get some food with it or do whatever you wanted and come back here, at this hotel, by the evening. Ok?"

Naruto nodded and ran off into the street whilst Jiraiya wandered down the street, looking for the agreed meeting point. He sat down at a café on a street corner, next to a man holding a cinnamon roll. "Is the sand flowing smoothly today?" Jiraiya said to him.

"Not as freely as the leaves fall," the man replied, and the white-haired man sat down.

"What information have you got on Orochimaru?" said Jiraiya, slowly sipping a tall glass of water.

"He is establishing his own Ninja village, the Land Hidden in Sound, located in between the Land of Rice and the Land of Tea. He also left the Akatsuki recently, after trying to attack Itachi Uchiha, and will now be going after the only Uchiha left, Uchiha Sasuke back in the village."

"Of course he would. Have you any more info on the soul exchange jutsu?" The informant nodded and handed over a tightly bound scroll, which Jiraiya sealed away. "Thank you for the information. I'll wire money into your account soon."

Naruto sat down on a swing, eating an ice-cream which was slowly dripping down his hand. He saw several children playing in the playground with a ball, until they threw it up into the air and it got stuck on top of a wall.

"Aw man," one of them said "Now we can't play anymore."

"Don't worry about it," a small child said, walking up to them holding the ball, surrounded by sand.

"Stay away from us!" the children shouted, one of them flinging a rock at him, the rest running off.

"Please," Gaara said "I just want to play with you."

"Stay away!" the boy screamed as Garra reached towards him with his sand and squeezed his arm with it, cutting it. The boy cried out and ran off.

"He's just like me!" Naruto realised.

"Why does everyone hate me?" Gaara said, crying whilst crouching down next to the ground.

"Hey, wanna play?" said Naruto, running over to him and placing a hand next to him.

"Are, are you talking to me?" Gaara stuttered.

"Well who else would I be talking to? Yes you of course. Let's go!" Naruto's attitude was infectious, and Gaara stood up and the two of them ran off.

Several hours later, the two of them stood, panting, atop the buildings of Suna. "That was the first time anyone has talked to me properly. Thank you, Uzumaki-San."

"Garra, I've told you like twenty times, just call me Naruto." Suddenly Gaara stiffened and put an arm protectively over Naruto.

"Stay down," he said, his voice taking a cold tone.

"Hidden Art! Manipulating Attack Blades!" Kunai launched themselves from the masked assassins side, whilst others floated gently at his side. He pushed his hands forward and more kunai hurtled forward, blocked by the sand shield.

Gaara snarled and pushed his hands forward, sand shooting out from his gourd and smashing into the ground where the jounin had stood. "Wind-Style! Mystic Wind Blades!" A blade of wind sliced through the shield of sand, and Gaara stood frozen in place.

"Gaara!" Naruto screamed, and jumped in the way, leaving a huge gash in his stomach. It began to steam immediately, and red chakra knitting his skin together and pulling blood back in. "Fire-Style! Fireball Jutsu!" The jouin jumped out of the way, into the way of Gaara's sand coffin.

"Sand Coffin!" the jounin screamed as their left arm was crushed, and they fell to the ground. "Who are you?" Gaara screamed, ripping the mask off, to reveal Yashamaru's face. "Why?" he choked back a sob.

"Your father instructed me to, but I could have refused if I had wanted. I think that deep down, I resented you for killing my sister. Gaara, you are unloved by the village. You will always be resented, no matter how hard you try. You will only ever love yourself." Yashamaru chuckled darkly, before coughing up blood.

Gaara roared as Shukaku chuckled in his head, screaming commands at him. "Gaara! Are you alright?" Naruto shouted as Gaara collapsed, clutching the seal on his stomach. "Let me bring you to my Sensei; he can help you!"

Jiraiya tapped his foot, waiting for Naruto to come back. He saw him run down the street, carrying a boy in his arms. Everyone gave him a wide berth. "Sensei, please, he's like me! But the seal is really bad, and someone tried to kill him, and he looks like he's hurt and-"

Jiraiya shushed him, and took him to their room. "A Twin Black Lions seal? Concerning, If one point breaks, then all the pressure will be put on the other. It allows him full access to the Ichibi's power, but gives the Ichibi full access to his mind as a trade. It will be… taxing to rehandle."

Naruto reached out to touch Gaara's arm, but the moment he did so, he felt a tug, and he was pulled into the mindset of the Tailed Beasts.


	4. Chapter 4: A deal with the Devil!

**I don't own Naruto**

**Chapter 4: A deal with the Devil!**

Naruto gasped as he found himself kneeling down in a pool of murky water, Gaara lying next to him, the Nine-Tailed fox inside his fox opposite him and Shukaku chuckling menacingly in a glass cube next to the Kyuubi. He was ramming against the glass, and with each hit, Gaara shifted more and squealed with agony.

"Stop it!" Naruto shouted, running over to the glass cube "You're hurting Gaara!"

"**That's the point, kid,**" the Ichibi said "**Today's the day I break this seal!**"

"Stop it now or I'll stop you myself!" Naruto cried "Gaara's my first proper friend and I won't let you hurt him. Shukaku stopped, then began to laugh, starting out low until building up into maniacal laughter.

"**You! Stop me! You've more chance of convincing foxy over there to frolic in the meadows!**" Shukaku laughed again, and once again rammed the cube. Hairline fractures began to spread out, and the Ichibi chuckled deeply.

Naruto turned to the fox. "You have to help me! All my life you've made me hated, so now pay me back. HELP ME!" Naruto screamed. The fox raised an eyebrow, and bared its teeth.

"**It… would be a shame if you were to be killed this soon. I'll comply – this once!**" He lifted his claw, and pointed at Shukaku. "**Brother, you are putting yourself to shame! Stop this foolishness at once!**" Shukaku simply screamed at the fox, at so the fox sighed.

He fixed Shukaku with an evil glare, and began to radiate Killing Intent. Shukaku laughed again.

"**I am too am a demon! That level Killing Intent won't work on me!**" The Nine-Tails sneered and began to pile on the pressure, Naruto frozen in place like a rabbit in the headlights. Gaara was shaking as well, and Shukaku stopped pounded the glass. "**Stop this brother!**"

The fox roared, laden with chakra, and Shukaku trembled, raising his hands above his head. Sand began to flake off of him, falling onto the floor of the cage. The Nine-Tails stood up and roared again, leaving Shukaku as nothing but a pile of sand.

"Gaara! Gaara! Are you okay?" Naruto walked over to him.

He woke up, rubbing his head. "Yes Naruto, I'm fine, thanks to that fox of yours."

"Yeah, thanks fox!" Naruto said

The fox growled, and waved a paw at them, and they were expelled from the Tailed Beast Dimension. As they woke up, Jiraiya was working on the seal on Gaaras stomach. Seals were etched all over the room, connected to the seal on him.

"Ah, Naruto, good to see you. You're just in time to see me re-do a seal of a Tailed Beast." He laid both of his hands over the seal, and called out "Sealing of the Beast! First!" The seal on his stomach faded, replaced by a swirling seal similar to Narutos. "You see Naruto, living objects need to be sealed in even numbered seals, and they have to have more than six points on them, so that if one point fails the rest of them won't become overloaded."

Naruto looked up at him "Huh." Jiraiya sighed.

"Let's leave the village tomorrow. We've caused too much trouble already."

Naruto tugged on his arm. "We can't leave Gaara here! All the villagers hate him, and his own father's trying to kill him! Please let him come with us! I'll stop asking you questions and for jutsus if you let him!"

Jiraiya thought about it, then "Okay, he can come with us. We'll need a plan so that his father doesn't ask around where he is though…"

Baki walked into the Kazekage's office, and knelt down. "Kazekage-Sama, Yashamaru's assassination attempt has succeeded. I found Gaaras and Yashamarus body on the ground near each other, most likely the two of them delivering each other a fatal blow. Gaara had multiple stab wounds whereas Yashamaru was simply crushed by the sand coffin."

"Hm. That is pleasing news. I trust you have dealt with the bodies?"

"Yes, Kazekage-Sama."

"Excellent. Take the day off tomorrow as your reward."

"Thank you, master." Baki jumped out of the window, leaving the Kazekage sitting at his desk in the dark alone in his office. A single silver tear slide down his cheek.

"My youngest child… is dead," he said in a voice one might use to comment on the weather. "Guards, leave me alone tonight."

"Yessir," one of them said as they jumped out of the building.

The next day, the villagers rejoiced at the news whilst Naruto and Jiraiya crept out of the village. Once out of there, they met Gaara behind a large dune. He was scooping sand into the large gourd in his back. "Once I'm out of the desert, I'll have no chance to refill my sand, so I'm getting as much as I can," he explained

"How did you trick the Kazekage?" Naruto asked.

"Well, I cast a genjutsu on one of his most trusted jounin, to make him see Gaaras dead body. This genjutsu was particularly complicated, as it had to make him _feel _the body as well. He disposed of Gaara, then informed the Kazekage so now the whole village thinks that he is dead."

Gaara was shaking with rage and sadness. "I should kill them all. But I won't. I'll make them feel pain later."

Then the three of them walked off together.

**What pairings do you think I should do in this fic? Please review!**


	5. Chapter 5: A shadow emerges!

**Chapter 5: Shadows emerge!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

"How did it come to this," Jiraiya thought, looking at the two children squabbling behind him. "I'm a member of the legendary Sannin! How did I become laboured with these children! Although I'll admit they do have to potential to become very strong – stronger than me in fact!"

Naruto and Gaara stopped arguing, and ran up to Jiraiya. "Hey Sensei, who was better, the Sandaime Kazekage or the Yondaime Hokage?" asked Naruto.

"Tell him it was the Kazekage!" said Gaara "He could whoop the _all_ the Hokages' butts, he's the best!"

Jiraiya stroked his chin thoughtfully and stopped walking. "As a matter of fact, they did in fact fight once."

Gaara and Naruto leaned in closer, transfixed. "Aaaaannddd?" the two of them said together.

Jiraiya smirked. "Climb up here and I'll tell you." Naruto and Gaara climbed up onto Jiraiya's shoulders and he quickened his pace. "Don't interrupt me or I'll stop talking." Naruto and Gaara nodded, miming zipping their mouths shut.

"Back when the Yondaime first became Hokage, the Sandaime Kazekage came to Konaha on a political visit. As both of the Daimyos' were also there, they decided to use it as an opportunity to show the strengths of their countries.

"It started out as a friendly spar, but after the Kazekage began to use his legendary Iron Sand techniques, it elevated quickly. Hundreds of leaf shinobi gathered to watch, and Minato began to run circles around the Kazekage using his Flying Thunder God jutsu." Naruto looked at Gaara smugly.

"However, as quick as Minato was, he couldn't escape the laws of physics. He quickly realised that with the Kazekage using Magnetic Style, his kunai would be of no use. So he began to place seals around the arena, but the Kazekage simply ripped them up." Gaara smirked at Naruto and stuck his tongue out.

"They quickly came to a stalemate, both of them avoiding each other's attacks perfectly. So, Minato formed the Rasengan, a ball of high velocity spinning chakra, and the Kazekage formed his Iron Destroyer, his signature technique which allowed him to focus all his sand in a single point, an all-out offense.

"And so the two of them charged at each other, and their attacks smashing into each other. But the Kazekage made a mistake. With his all-out offense, there was no sand left to protect him, so when Minato flashed behind him with a kunai in hand, he had no defense."

"Nyah-nah! I told you the Hokage was stronger!" gloated Naruto.

"However," Jiraiya continued, " The Kazekage was far from defenceless. In less than a second he used his Magnetic Style to ready his own kunai at Minato's neck, both of them ready to kill."

Naruto and Gaara were now silent, awestruck at the power of their ancestors. "Then…?"

"What do you think? The charming and gallant Toad Sage himself broke apart the fight, declaring it a draw, before inviting the two Kage inside for refreshments!"

Naruto and Gaara were stunned, then "YOU BROKE UP A FIGHT BETWEEN THE TWO STRONGEST SHINOBI, EVEN THOUGH BOTH OF THEM PROBABLY HAD A HUNDRED MORE TRICKS UP THEIR SLEEVE! WHAT SORT OF IDIOT ARE YOU?" Naruto and Gaara screamed at Jiraiya, who had covered his ears.

"Well, um… I think. OH no! It's an earthquake!" he shouted and began to shake his shoulders, causing Naruto and Gaara to wobble, screaming in delight.

They set up camp on the edge of the desert, and Naruto gathered firewood whilst Gaara collected water. "Look at that beauty!" Jiraiya said as he hauled a large fresh-water salmon onto the ground next to the fire.

Gaara looked confused. "What is that?" he said, bewildered.

"You- you've never seen a fish before? Well, to be fair, you did live in the desert and there's almost no streams there. Basically, this is an animal which lives in water." Gaara nodded, then sat down cross legged.

"You are aware someone is following us right," Gaara whispered to Jiraiya as he leaned over to examine the fish. "I felt their chakra and I could crush them now if you want."

Jiraiya laughed and whispered to the boy "Can you feel whether he is here now? I felt an unusual signature but I assumed it was Naruto messing around."

Gaara sat down. "His chakra feels… dark. Not as in evil, but as in the dark of the night sky, a deep blue."

Jiraiya smirked. "Shikaku, what are you doing here? We're just inside the borders of the Land of Fire, and there are already shinobi following us."

Shikaku jumped down out of the trees and landed next to them, slouched shoulders hiding his tenseness. "Jiraiya-Sama, I apologize for following you, it's just that he have had some… unpleasant visitors in the vicinity recently and I wanted to make sure it was really you before I approached."

Naruto ran back through the clearing, holding a large bundle of firewood. "Here you are Sensei… who's this?"

Shikaku turned to Naruto and offered him a hand. "You must be Naruto. On behalf of the ninja council of Konaha, I would like to offer you my most sincere apologies for all acts committed against you."

Naruto grinned and looked down, taking Shikaku's hand with one of his hands and rubbing the back of his head nervously with the other. "Don't go all formal on me, you'll embarrass me!" Shikaku smiled back, then asked Jiraiya if he could stay to eat.

"Those ration bars are nutritious, but they taste like crap," he explained.

"Sure you can," Jiraiya said. "As long as it's alright with the kids!"

Gaara turned to him. "What's wrong with your chakra?" he asked. "My father told me that I was a strong sensor type, but that it would be useless to me in the future. But when I try to "feel" your chakra, all I feel is a black mess."

Shikaku sat down on the ground, and pulled a twig out of the dirt. "You both know how chakra is made of Physical and Spiritual energy, right?" Naruto and Gaara nodded. "My clan uses special techniques which means we don't have to use out Physical energies, see?" he held up his hand which was now connected by a shadow to Gaara's.

"Our chakra has that strange feel because, well, it runs in the family. Not in a Kekkai Genkai sort of way, more like a passing down of chakra nature through family. This gives us an affinity for controlling shadows, as it would take too much chakra to connect to shadows otherwise, since higher level techniques give the shadows form, based on the Sage of Six Paths Creation of All Things jutsu."

Jiraiya whistled. Those were clan secrets he had just heard; he had nearly never heard a Nara talk about how their jutsu worked before now, and certainly not in that detail. Shikaku must really feel bad about Naruto's beatings.

"But enough talking!" Shikaku said "Let's cook this fish and eat!" Gaara was excited; he had never had fish before. Jiraiya served the two children the best cuts, after slapping Shikaku's hand away from taking the most tender slices. After they had all eaten their fill, the children went to sleep immediately, full bellies and soft ground lulling them quickly.

"Jiraiya," Shikaku said softly. "Do you really feel so guilty about Minato's death that you would keep Naruto from the village?" Jiraiya clenched his hand into a fist.

"I'll bring him back when he is prepared to deal with the abuse, both physically and mentally. That means about academy graduating age."

"And the sand child?"

"He has the potential to be strong shinobi. I'll enrol him in Konaha's shinobi program as well." Shikaku snorted, but said nothing. "What?"

"Hah! I really can't believe that you'd do that. I know you too well, Jiraiya. You've changed since meeting that kid. You no longer proclaim yourself to be a super pervert; when will the next Icha Icha book come out? You'll never allow these children away from yourself, just as you'll never return from the village!"

Jiraiya punched Shikaku hard in the face, sending him flying into a tree. "Don't you dare talk to me like that! When I found Naruto, the medics were injecting him with a poison even the fox would have had trouble with. It took Ma nearly an hour to even come up with a temporary cure for him, and a day to find a proper antidote! I _will_ return Naruto when he is ready! And that means strong enough to fight off any bandits or crazed drunks which come his way!"

Shikaku looked down ashamedly. "I just-"

"I am not done!" Jiraiya exclaimed thunderously. "This boy has become like a son to me, and no doubt that the other child will as well! I will allow nothing to hurt them! These two children would never hurt a fly unless to protect themselves, yet they are abused constantly by their own villages! Citizens who are supposed to protect them! Why do you think I don't want to return?"

"Guilt out of not being there to seal the fox away instead of Minato?" Shikaku said analytically. Jiraiya sagged and dropped to the ground.

"Just sleep," he said "And be gone by the time I wake up in the morning."

The Yondaime Kazekage sighed and clasped his hair in his hands. Shukaku had been killed along with Gaara, and so the village would seem weak to the others if word got out. Then he tensed, and launched a pile of gold dust at the corner, squashing a shinobi crouching there. But the shinobi laughed and simply waved a hand, pushing the dust away from him.

"Kukukuku, I hear you've lost your little Jinchuriki," the shinobi said "Well have I got an offer for you."

**Whew! My longest chapter yet! And I hope the chapters will be getting longer and longer up to time skip at around chapter 10. Please review!**


	6. Chapter 6: A youthful encounter!

**Chapter 6: A youthful encounter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

By the time Naruto had woken up, Shikaku had left and Jiraiya was packing up camp.

"We're leaving soon, wake up Gaara," Jiraiya instructed. Naruto shook Gaara awake and rolled away his sleeping bag, rubbing sleep out of his eyes.

"Hey Sensei, what happened to that Shikaku guy who was hanging around here?"

Jiraiya tensed and said "He had to leave quickly to get back to Konaha to hand in his mission report." Naruto nodded and scooped dirt into their fire pit, making it look as though they had never been there. Gaara too was helping, burying the fish bones where animals wouldn't dig them up.

They promptly left just as the sun was beginning to rise, at about 6 in the morning. After walking for about an hour in silence, Gaara decided he should practice with his sand, so he slowly raised his hand, gathering sand under the feet of the two other ninja present with them noticing, before sharply lifting his hand, pulling the two other shinobi off their feet and returned his sand to the gourd in one swift movement. Jiraiya jumped up off the ground quickly, glaring at Gaara who gave them a look which said "Who, me?"

Jiraiya dusted himself off silently then patted Gaara on the shoulder. "I'll be impressed when you can do that to me without me noticing. How about I make your sand heavier as well." He placed a sealing tag inside the gourd, increasing the individual gravity of each grain of sand. "That reminds me, Naruto, I meant to put these on you after we left the village." Naruto stood up, dusting himself off, before turning around and shouting at Gaara.

"WHAT THE HELL GAARA! WHY D'YOU GO THAT YOU SAND BASTARD!" Gaara smirked and raised his hand again, before frowning.

"How much heavier have you made my sand?" he asked Jiraiya

"Oh not much," Jiraiya said "only about one hundred times heavier." Both Gaara and ~Naruto sweat dropped at that.

"How the hell am I supposed to control my sand when it's this heavy!" he cried

Now Jiraiya smirked "Practice constantly. Now come here Naruto…" he said, pulling out four more sealing tags.

"NEVER!" he screamed before running off.

* * *

Naruto forced his legs to move to keep up with Jiraiya and Gaara. As Gaara wasn't wearing weight, he had to carry himself on his sand. After about an hour of walking, Naruto slumped against one of the large trees which surrounded the Land of Fire.

"I can't go on," he said. "Go on without me!" he said dramatically, swooning back against the tree. Jiraiya sighed, and Gaara merely let himself drop to the ground, panting as well. Jiraiya walked over to the tree and pressed a hand against it, and it opened. Both Gaara and Naruto's jaws dropped.

"H-how did you do that?" Naruto stammered.

"Trees like these are hidden all over the Land of Fire. They are called Hashirama trees, and all leaf shinobi are trained to recognise them as leaf shinobi hide supplies and rest spots in these trees everywhere. It is common courtesy to place something in the tree if you take something out, however." Jiraiya took out a bundle of exploding tags from his pouch and withdraw both some chakra re-fueling tags and some muscle relaxant tags. He threw the chakra tag at Gaara. "Put it on your forehead." He said.

Then he threw the muscle relaxant tags at Naruto, who stuck it on his forehead as well. "You're not supposed to put it there," Jiraiya face-palmed as Naruto's face relaxed, his mouth and cheeks drooping and his eyes spinning wildly.

"I'an shee dat," Naruto mumbled as he removed the tags. "What do I..?" he said, indicating he was speaking about the tags."

"Just apply them to your aching muscles for about a second." Naruto complied, sighing in relief.

"Now can we move on?" Jiraiya said, and they both nodded. Suddenly Gaara stiffened, Jiraiya sensing it a couple of seconds later.

"We should go see what that chakra signature was," both of them said simultaneously, whilst Naruto simply stood there, not knowing what to say or do. The three of them walked towards the signature cautiously under a Henge. They arrived to see the clearing demolished, shattered logs, burnt logs and logs sliced into pieces.

"Oh the travesty," Jiraiya thought, offering a silent prayer to the Log. Two shinobi clashed again in the middle of the training ground, meeting in a shockwave of power.

"My eternal rival, you are simply too strong!" exclaimed a green clad man. "But I expect nothing less from my youthful partner!"

His opponent merely stepped into a more relaxed stance. "Ne, did you say something to me Gai?"

Gai raised a fist and shouted angrily "Curse you and your coolness Kakashi! I will best you one day!"

"I seem to remember that I am currently beating you 55-30, Gai."

"ARRR! THAT WILL SOON BE 55-31! RARGGGHHH!" Gai leapt up and punched only for Kakashi to turn into a log at the last moment. The log shattered into multiple splinters, and Kakashi tapped Gai on the back. "I'm here, Gai." Gai shimmered out of existence and reappeared behind Kakashi.

"And I'm here!" as he smashed his right leg into Kakashi's side, sending him hurtling into the ground.

"Watch closely," Jiraiya said. "These two may not look like much, but they are the ninjutsu and taijutsu masters of Konaha."

Kakashi caught Gai's right leg, preparing to swing him into the ground. He wasn't expecting Gai's left leg to smash down on his back from above, releasing his right leg. Kakashi ran forward, fingers blurring into hand signs. "Water Style: Multiple Water Bullets!" Five water bullets flew out of his mouth, and Gai dodged four of them with blinding speed, the fifth he smashed apart with a punch. In the midst of the confusion of the water vapour, Kakashi struck forward with a kunai.

"I win," he said simply. Gai punched the ground, frustrated with himself.

"OH NO! I cannot believe my loss! As punishment, I shall run around Konaha 400 times with only one arm and one leg. And if I fail that I shall do-"

"Now is not the time, Gai." Kakashi's visible eye narrowed. "We have company. Come out, whoever you are, I know you are there."

Jiraiya emerged from the tree they were hiding behind, hands raised above his head to show he was not armed. He also dispelled the Henge, making Kakashi and Gai fall into a more relaxed pose.

"Master Jiraiya, I had heard from Shikaku that you were in the Land of Fire, but I though you would be long gone by now. Are you travelling with someone to be moving so slow?" Kakashi said this knowing full well he was travelling with his sensei's kid and a kid from the sand. He wanted to see how Jiraiya would react.

"Yes, I am," responded Jiraiya. "Two children in fact. You can come out now, these two are allies!" Jiraiya called out to the tree, and the two children walked out slowly from underneath it.

Kakashi eye-smiled at seeing Naruto; he looked so much like Minato it was shameful that no other shinobi had managed to work out that he was his child. "Ah, hello there, Naruto. And you would be?" he said, looking at Gaara.

"I am Gaara of the Desert," he said.

Gai leapt over to them, and up to Jiraiya. "Hello Jiraiya, it is good to see you after all this time! Could you do me a favour and increase my weighting seals for me? I meant to get round to it but I never quite got the hand of seals, if you know what I mean." Jiraiya nodded his head Gai rolled up his suit to reveal the seal.

"Hey mister, if you're wearing weights under that suit already, why do you need a seal weight?" Naruto asked, having seen the weights in the man's orange leg-warmers.

"An excellent question, worthy of the one who Jiraiya has chosen to travel with him! You see Naruto. Should I ever face off against an opponent who is strong enough to require me to take off my weights, once I have taken off my physical weights, they will think that it my top speed. HOWEVER! If they are still too strong, I can simply release the weighted seal, and run rings around them. They will never expect a surprise attack from me like that!"

"Why, that's genius!" exclaimed Naruto. "I wish I had thought of that!" Jiraiya scowled.

"Kid, sealing like this takes a lot of concentration, go talk to Kakashi or something."

Naruto jumped up and ran over to Kakashi, followed slowly by Gaara. "Hello!" said Naruto. "I saw your water jutsu in your spar!" Kakashi looked up, but didn't reply. Why wouldn't the boy leave? He looked so like sensei that it was painful.

"Hey! You! I'm talking to you!" the silver haired man looked up from his book. "Finally! Can you teach me that jutsu? I know one water jutsu already, but there are like seven hand signs to it, and your one only took five so it would be quicker for me to use that!"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at that. He had been able to see his handsigns, even though they went so fast most seasoned shinobi couldn't see them. Gaara arrived at their area, and sat down silently. Kakashi observed them both quietly, before standing up and stretching.

"Fine. I'll teach you that jutsu. Do these signs." He went through them slowly, making sure Naruto got them all. "Don't think I'm doing this because I like you. I'm only doing this to annoy Jiraiya. I can guarantee you that he wants to teach you everything himself."

Naruto smirked. "Why do you want to annoy him?"

"Well, um… it's supposed to be a secret… I'm not sure if it's my place to-"

"You mean about the fox sealed inside me? Don't worry I know everything." Now, when Naruto said that he knew everything, he was not aware that there were many more secrets concerning the day of his birth. Kakashi took this as that he knew about his father being the fourth Hokage.

"You see Naruto, your father was my sensei, and I grew very close to him. SO when he was killed in the foxes rampage, it was mainly due to Jiraiya not being in the village to support him."

Naruto's eyes grew wider. His dad had taught this cool guy? So if he learnt jutsu from him, it would almost be like his own dad was teaching him. Then a horrible thought struck him, and he edged away.

"D-do you want to kill me because of the fox?" Naruto stuttered, now scared that his only connection to his father was about to be destroyed by the overgrown rodent inside of him. Gaara tensed too, sand poised ready to strike if Kakashi made a move to strike his friend. To their surprise, Kakashi ruffled Naruto's hair.

"Of course I don't Naruto. I know that you aren't the fox; those idiot villagers can't the difference between a prisoner and a jail. That fox on the other hand, if I got my hands on him, I would rip him apart completely."

Naruto smiled, and then re-did the signs for the Multiple Water Bullet jutsu. A pathetic dribble of water spat out his mouth. "DAMMIT! Water jutsu are my worst jutsus, and yet they're the only thing people seem to know!"

Kakashi smirked. "You know Naruto, your father wasn't that good at water jutsu either. Without mastery or a good basis of all five elements, it's a wonder he became the fo-"

"Hey Naruto! Come over here! I want to show you something!" shouted Jiraiya. Naruto ran over to see the seal laid out on the ground. "See Naruto, for seals like this, we can expand them. The reason it has to be so complex is because Gai will have to release them with a single hand sign, but not by accident. When we write complicated seals, we often do it like this."

Naruto stood to the side. "What do you think about this seal then? It's a fairly simple one." Said Jiraiya.

"Hmm. This bit… is the bit which controls the weight," he said, gesturing to a seal which read "heavy." "This bit controls the release of it." A seal which read "release." "This last bit… I have no idea." He admitted.

"Well done Naruto! Most seals are written in three part formula like this, but some may be written in more parts, such as a seal which contains a living being."

Gai stood unimpressed in the middle of the seals. "Could you hurry up, Lord Jiraiya? It is most unyouthful to be standing still for so long."

Jiraiya complied, and Gai smiled. "Yes, this is good! I can feel the strain! With this I shall become much faster! Thank you a great deal!"

Meanwhile, Gaara and Kakashi were standing awkwardly next to each other. Kakashi was the frist to break the silence. "So… do you like… girls?" Kakashi said nervously. He wasn't used to speaking to little kids. I'll never get a genin team, he swore to himself.

"I'm only eight. Rocks?" Gaara asked.

"No. Icha Icha?"

"No. Pocky?"

"No. Training?"

"That is one of my few hobbies. I enjoy training with Naruto. He is my only friend."

"Why, didn't you have any friends back in your home village?"

"No, there were all scared of me. I hold the One-Tailed beast inside of me, and the seal was unstable until Jiraiya fixed it."

"I see. Sooo." Kakashi stood impassively, unknowing how to continue the conversation.

"I should go," they both said simultaneously, and power-walked towards where their friends were.

Later, the five of them stood together, about two hours away from the village. "You know that you are always welcome in the leaf." Gai said.

"From you maybe, but not all the villagers and shinobi would like us to remain. Besides, I have business in Taki I need to tend to. But it was good to see you again, Gai, Kakashi."

Kakashi took Naruto to one side, and handed him a scroll. "Here you are, Naruto. Consider this a gift from me. It has two jutsu in it, one C rank and one B rank. Continue to practise the Multiple Water Bullets as well. I'm sure you will become a great ninja."

Naruto smiled, embarrassed. "Thanks Kakashi, for the scroll and for telling about my father I'm sure now I'll be able to get Jiraiya to tell me who he was!"

Kakashi's smile froze on his face. "You- you don't know who he is?"

"No I don't but I will find out, believe it! Jiraiya said it was for my own protection, and that anyone who told me would face his wrath."

Jiraiya slowly turned around, having heard the conversation. A forced smile was on his face. "Naruto, Gaara, you go on ahead. Gai, go back to the village. I have to _talk _to Kakashi."

Kakashi tugged on his collar. "I should be going to, it's dark, and it would be terrible if I were late back to the village."

Jiraiya dragged Kakashi by the scruff off his neck out of the clearing.

"It was good to meet you Gai!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Likewise, my youthful friend! Become stronger so that I may fight you; one day you two will surely be much stronger."

Gaara inclined his head slightly his head in thanks. Their exchange was interrupted by a cry of "NOT THE TOADS! PLEASE! NOT THE TOOOAAADDDSSSSSS. His voice slowly faded away and all three of them standing there sweat-dropped.

"While your sensei isn't here, I have gift for you too." Gai said, smirking and holding a thumb-up. From his pouch he pulled out two green jumpsuits. "They're breathable, and super flexible, and when you train you get extra results out of them."

Gaara nudged Naruto and whispered to him "He forgot to mention that they are hideous." He deadpanned.

Naruto burst out laughing, but accepted the suits in fear of hurting Gai's feelings. "And also…" Gai said. He held out to scrolls for them. "Open them later. They're secret." He tapped the side of his nose.

With Kakashi punished and returned to the village, the three of them set out for Taki to meet an informant with vital information on a recently formed group of mercenaries who were gathering S-Rank Missing Nin.

The Akatsuki.

**Sorry that this chapter was a bit late. However, I have now decided that I will update every Monday and Friday from now on. **

**Please review!**


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